Tuscaloosa Academy swept out of playoffs

Saturday

TUSCALOOSA | Catcher Austin Jordan singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning to knock the Tuscaloosa Academy baseball team out of the AISA Class AAA tournament.

TUSCALOOSA | Catcher Austin Jordan singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning to knock the Tuscaloosa Academy baseball team out of the AISA Class AAA tournament.Jordan’s hit gave Monroe Academy a 5-4 victory and a sweep in Friday’s doubleheader. The Volunteers collected 13 hits in winning the first game 10-5.Monroe Academy (29-9) advances to a semifinal series on Wednesday at Pike Liberal Arts. Tuscaloosa Academy finished with a 21-13 record.Freshman right-hander Jonathan Simpson (5-2) got the win with a complete-game effort. He allowed seven hits and struck out eight. Senior left-hander Hartley Cox (7-3) pitched 91⁄3 innings in taking the loss.“Hartley Cox, he pitched a great ballgame for them,” said Monroe Academy coach Mitchell Turberville. “He deserves a lot of credit. He was outstanding.”Cox allowed five hits and 12 walks and struck out 11.Tuscaloosa Academy coach John Rushing said Cox didn’t practice on Thursday because he was trying to help victims affected by Wednesday’s devastating tornado.“Yesterday the kid’s cutting down trees, helping folks, and today he comes out and throws 10 innings,” Rushing said. “I told him I don’t understand how you can do that. I guess it’s great to be 18 years old.“ We had several guys that went out and did that yesterday.”In the bottom of the 10th, Bryant Settle led off with a walk and took second when Sam Vermilyea grounded out. Stuart Terry, who started the game at third, replaced Cox to pitch to Jordan.“(Cox) didn’t want to come out,” Rushing said. “I really didn’t want to take him out, but we were going on the sixth time he’s seeing that guy that was coming to the plate. He had not had real good success with that guy. I just thought maybe we could give him a different look.“The kid hit a good pitch, an off-speed pitch away, and he ended up hitting it into left field.”Jordan had reached base four times on three walks and a hit by pitch. Settle scored from second when Jordan launched his line drive to left.“He just did a great job,” Turberville said of Jordan. “He kept his hands back on a breaking ball and drove it to left field. It was great to see that just because of his work ethic and the kind of kid he is.“Once I saw the trajectory, I knew it was down. I was just happy we were able to advance.”Tuscaloosa Academy took a 4-2 lead in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Cox beat out an infield hit and was replaced by courtesy runner Daniel Winters, who stole second. Clay Thomas singled in Winters and took third on an error. Thomas scored when Parker Farley reached on an error.The Volunteers tied it in the bottom half of the seventh. Gabe Dees drew a one-out walk. Logan Smith had a two-out single, and the runners advanced to third and second on an error. Peyten Powell followed with a two-run single.The Knights got their first run in the first inning as Farley singled and wound up scoring on an error. Monroe Academy tied it in the bottom half. Tanner Smith walked with the bases loaded to drive in a run.Cox doubled with two outs in the second and was replaced by Winters. Thomas struck out, but Jordan didn’t field the ball. When Thomas started running toward first on the dropped third strike, he inadvertently kicked the ball into foul territory. Winters took third and scored when Simpson didn’t field the ball cleanly.Monroe Academy got its second run in the fifth as Jake McKenzie reached on an error and wound up scoring on an error.Third baseman Tanner Smith drove in five runs in the first game.In the first inning, Vermilyea singled and ended up scoring on Dees’ sacrifice fly. Smith followed with a two-run homer.Monroe Academy added four runs in the fourth on back-to-back two-run doubles by Dees and Tanner Smith. In the sixth, Tanner Smith drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk. Logan Smith followed with a two-run single.Thomas led off the bottom of the first with a home run. Gregory Taylor singled with two outs to drive in William Heath in the third. Heath scored on Taylor’s two-out single in the fifth.Thomas singled, stole second and scored on an error in the sixth. Jonathan Plott accounted for the Knights’ final run when he homered to left field to lead off the seventh.Dees (7-3) pitched six innings to get the win. He allowed six hits and five walks and struck out eight. Left-hander Jonathan Boyd (3-4) pitched six-plus innings in taking the loss. He allowed 13 hits and six walks and struck out three.

Reach Andrew Carroll at andrew.carroll@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0223.

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